Once I rode an orphan train
And my brother did the same
They split us up in Missouri
James was five and I was three
He got taken by some pair
But for me they did not care
We were brave and did not cry
When they made us say goodbye
That was the last I saw of him
Before some family took me in
But I swore I'd run away
And find my brother James someday
I went back when I was grown
To find our old Children's Home
And I asked for to see my file
Of when I was an orphan child
It's sad, they say, there's been a flood
File washed away in Missouri mud
Sometimes life is a stone wall
You either climb, or else you fall
In every town, on every street
All the faces that I meet
And I wonder, could this one be
My brother James come back to me
Though I don't know where he's gone
I have searched my whole life long
Now I roam from town to town
But there's no orphan lost-and-found
Sometimes I dream a pleasant sight
My brother James and I unite
Remembering our last goodbye
No longer brave, we start to cry
I hope he lives a life of ease
And all his days a soft, warm breeze
May he sit upon a throne
And may he never sleep alone
Once I rode an orphan train
And my brother did the same
They split us up in Missouri
James was five and I was three